Alberta’s early childhood educators to get more support

The Government of Alberta has increased the eligible paid hours for existing wage top-ups for certified Early Childhood Educators (ECE) starting Oct. 1.

“All paid hours are now eligible for the existing wage top-ups, including indirect time and employer-paid vacation time,” the province said.

This is part of a $90 million federal and provincial funding through to the end of fiscal 2025-2026 where the provincial funding will be used for the wage top-up for certified ECEs working in out-of-school care programs.

Both the governments of Alberta and Canada are trying to make it easier to establish a career in early childhood education in an effort to build the ECE workforce.

For the first-level child-care orientation course, enrolment capacity is more than doubling from 4,000 to 10,000 spaces to all Albertans.

“We know that early childhood educators are the backbone of our child-care system,” said Matt Jones, minister of children’s services. “The immediate and longer-term steps that we are taking will support early childhood educators in their jobs and training and will ensure a strong and qualified workforce for the years to come.”

“Early childhood educators are the heart of the early learning and child-care system,” added Karina Gould, federal minister of families, children and social development. “By providing the workforce with the training, resources and support they need, we are supporting their growth and the growth of a high-quality child-care system in Alberta.”

The Government of Alberta is also going ahead with supporting other workforces in the province, such as:

• Developing a new competency-based approach to certification, which will better assess and factor in an ECE’s experience, knowledge and skills, as well as their educational background.
• Supporting career pathways for ECEs through the development of a free online portal that will be a single point of access to educational information and other resources.
• Creating an ECE substitute/casual pool to provide employment opportunities and help staff child-care programs during planned and unplanned staff absences.
• Launching pilot programs with diverse communities to promote their entry into the child-care field.
• Continuing to work with Advanced Education to improve access to post-secondary programs, creating more in-person and virtual ECE spaces in targeted locations and programs.
• In early 2023, level 1 ECE orientation course content will be modernized to include new modules for out-of-school care and family day home environments.

The federal and provincial governments will continue to help the ECE workforce by implementing long-term investment strategies.

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“Expanding the hours eligible for wage top-ups is wonderful news for our programs and will be unreal for our educators.” said Tricia Cunningham, the executive director of SIGIS Childcare. “This will also relieve the pressure on operators who are dealing with ongoing staff shortages and guarantees we can continue to provide high-quality child care. As well, making it so anyone can get their level 1 certification is a huge asset to our sector.”

“ARCQE applauds these additional investments aimed at expanding wage top-up for early childhood educators,” added Corine Ferguson, the executive director of Alberta Resource Centre for Quality Enhancement. “This will further enhance the quality of early learning experiences children and their families have access to across Alberta. These investments meaningfully reinforce Children’s Services’ commitment to truly supporting recognition for ECEs as essential service providers.”